SKF NOTE: I really don’t know anything about Harry Stone. My friend, Chris Conrade, interviewed Harry Stone on June 6, 1979, hoping the interview would be transcribed, edited, and published in Modern Drummer. None of those things happened. Last week, digitizing this cassette, was the first I had listened to this one-hour interview since 1979.

Harry Stone had written the book, music, and lyrics for the Off-Broadway musical, Chase A Rainbow. There are references during the interview to a song, Listen, Little Boy, which was part of Chase A Rainbow. Chris Conrade may have been rehearsing with the show band, but that’s only my best guess. If I can get better information I will update this post.

Mr. Stone was a drummer who played with Jack Teagarden and other bands. What caught my attention in this excerpt is Stone’s story about his missed opportunity to replace Dave Tough in Woody Herman’s big band. This is an interesting bit of history from a drummer who saw Tough play and revered Tough as a drummer. And this is a timeless lesson on grabbing opportunities when they show up in our lives.